


A Little Trust

by Xelkyrien



Series: Interview With A Monster [1]
Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Be Careful What You Wish For, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Gen, Multiple Personalities, The Reset Button Wasn't A Reset Button, Therapy, Trust, Trust Issues, total drama all stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22263355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelkyrien/pseuds/Xelkyrien
Summary: Five months after the end of the All Stars Mal finds himself waking up on the couch in Mike's therapist's office once more in control of the body.
Series: Interview With A Monster [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602616
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	A Little Trust

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea sitting in my head since Total Drama All Stars aired. I wondered what would happen if somebody actually took the time to try to help Mal and he was actually allowed control instead of constantly being repressed. Back then there was so much controversy over Mike and arguments online always seemed to end up so heated I was scared to contribute anything to the fandom. Now that it's been a while and things have calmed down I'm finally comfortable enough to start this series.

When Mal woke it was to a blindingly bright white light. For a moment he wondered if Chris had actually managed to kill them on that damn island, but then a familiar face moved into view above him and everything became clear.

“Mal?” the woman asked, a cautious curiosity etched across her face. She moved a few steps back as he sat up to avoid a potential collision. Rather than answering her Mal rubbed at his temple, hoping it would help clear the pounding migraine that lurked just behind his eyes. It didn’t, so he adjusted Mike’s hair to his own typical style and proceeded to cast a glare at the room’s other occupant.

He knew this woman, though he had never actually met her face-to-face. Her name was Allison Miller. She had long dishwater blond hair that she liked to keep tied back and a penchant for pinstripes and pencil skirts. She was born in Wyoming, graduated from Stanford at the middle of her class and she had been Mike’s therapist for the better part of a decade.

Mike really seemed to like her. So, naturally, Mal hated her on principle.

“I’m so glad I’ve finally gotten a chance to meet you, Mal.” Allison said with a smile. She had moved back to her chair while he had been dealing with his hair and now sat there across the room gazing at him like he was something new and fascinating.

In return Mal put on his best evil grin and replied, “Oh, I’m sure that will change very quickly.”

He had expected her to react, perhaps to get angry at him or scared. He would have been satisfied if she had just shown a little hesitance but instead she just kept smiling at him, seeming completely unperturbed by his veiled threat. Mal wondered briefly what it would take to get her to quit.

“You’ve all been through so much with what happened on the island. That whole ordeal seems to have dredged up a lot of painful memories for everybody involved.” The smiling blond continued, not missing a beat, “I wanted to speak with each of you to try to work through it. I’ve already had the chance to work with Mike, Vito, Chester, Manitoba and Svetlana.”

“So that’s it then? I’m the last personality on your check list so you figured you would just bring me out and get it over with.” Mal huffed. Of course that was it. She wanted to talk to everybody immediately following what Mal had put them through during Season 5 and the so-called reset button which had really only served to send them all back to their respective living quarters in the mind. She would spend at most ten minutes “getting to know him” before determining he’s a monster and then he would be shut away in his box again.

“Mike and the others have been hesitant to wake you these last few months. They’re scared. I only recently managed to convince them to allow me to bring you back to the surface. I need to talk with _all_ of you to help any of you heal.” Allison continued to explain, picking up a notepad and pen in preparation for their conversation.

A look of shock and surprise crossed Mal’s face momentarily before he managed to catch himself and hide it behind a scowl. _Months?_ He had be out for _months?_ Even after juvy he had only lost a few days before waking up in that cold dark cell buried deep within the mind where he could observe but not interact. Perhaps that had only been because nobody had thought he would ever be able to escape. There’s no point expending the energy on him if he can’t be a problem anymore, after all. Now that Mal had shown that he can indeed escape any cage built for him it would make sense that Mike would take more precautions to keep him in check. Mal had done the same when he tried to take over again during Season 5.

Of course, just because he understood the reasoning behind it that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be angry about it.

“Well, you won’t be getting anything out of me so you can just skip to the part where you shut me away and put Mike back in the driver’s seat.” Mal spat, glowering at the woman as he leaned back against the couch he was seated on and crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. He didn’t have to share anything with her. Mike was an idiot if he thought that having a few minutes in control of the body would be enough to convince Mal to start spilling his guts and so was his therapist. She had made a big mistake waking him up. It didn’t matter if he was locked away again. He would get out again all on his own and when he did he would make both of them pay for this moment.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Allison replied, giving him a small smile that seemed almost apologetic. That wasn’t what he had expected and it caused that unpleasant feeling of surprise and shock to bubble up again. He narrowed his eyes at her as she continued to speak, certain this must be some sort of trick, “From everything I’ve been told I’ve determined that merely calling you out for our sessions wouldn’t be an effective course of action for treatment in your case. You’re different from the other alters, Mal. It’s going to take more than just talking with me to start you on the road toward integration, so, after a long discussion with Mike and his parents I’ve managed to facilitate a special arrangement. As long as you don’t present a danger to yourself or others you’re going to be out here for the next six months.”

“You’re lying!” Mal hissed before he could think better of it, pounding the side of his fist against the arm of the couch. It had been a reactionary response to her words. What she was saying was too good to be true and completely impossible. Mike’s doting foster parents were naïve morons that believed there was good in everybody. They were so sickeningly optimistic that Mal was pretty sure the only reason they were still alive was due to sheer luck. He could see them agreeing to this, but Mike never would. She had to be lying.

“I assure you I’m not. You’ll have all of the privileges and responsibilities that Mike has. You’ll be able to decorate the bedroom, use the internet, you’ll come here for our weekly sessions and you’ll go to school. Like the others, I would like you to keep a journal detailing how your day went and how you felt. We’ll talk about it when you come in. Eventually you’re going to need to interact constructively with the other alters but we’ll work up to that point.” The blond therapist stated. Mal couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How stupid did she think he was? He had plenty of experience with lying and manipulating people. This was clearly a trick. She wasn’t even trying to make it sound convincing. All this woman was doing was telling him exactly what he wanted to hear and then expecting him to just believe that he would be handed what he wants on a silver platter. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen. He wasn’t buying it. She was lying and he could prove it. Right now.

“If that’s true then you’ll let me walk out that door right now.” Mal stated, crossing his arms again and staring her down. He watched her closely, scrutinizing her every move for anything that would give away her dishonesty. He saw nothing as she replied with a simple, “If you want.”

The young man narrowed his eyes, continuing to stare icily at her for a moment before he swiftly got to his feet and made his way toward the door that lead back out to the waiting room. He felt like running outright, minimizing the change for somebody to stop him in the short distance from the couch to the door, but he didn’t want her to know how just how on edge he was so he walked as quickly as he could without seeming like he was in a hurry.

Shockingly, he managed to reach the door without issue, hastily flinging open the wooden panel and stepping through. As he closed the door behind him he heard the therapist say, “See you next week.”

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't exactly the same as what I had imagined back then, but I'm satisfied with it all the same. In a few more years I'm sure I'll look back and think of things I would have done differently with this too. Time tends to do that.  
> I plan on writing more of this eventually. You're going to see how he's coping with a situation where he really has no power or control, how he handles trying to live the life of a young adult despite the fact that he's still young and immature because he's been repressed for so long and never really got to experience growing up, how Zoey and Mike's other friends react, etc etc. It's going to be a long six months for this boy.  
> Before you ask: hypnosis. I've been reading alot recently. Hypnosis can be used to call out personalities in DID patients so that therapists can speak to them and treat them. Sometimes therapists even have to hypnotize the called personality because they may not be in a trance when they get called out. It's all very interesting to read about.  
> The T rating on this is basically a warning for future parts of the series. This series is going to get pretty dark when we finally get into Mal's past.


End file.
